What could be better after a long week at work than to blow off some steam with your friends out on the town? The great American pastime: you’ve worked hard all week and now it’s time for a little fun, a little downtime, some much-needed R&R so your batteries can recharge…
Which lasts, I believe, until you get the tab for the night – I couldn’t have ordered that many drinks! Wait, no, I bought one for Leslie…and her friend, too…then I got hungry and bought some nachos for the table…darn, surely the bartender stuck an extra zero in there!
Check all you want, the plain fact is that going out to a bar or club can be very expensive. Not my idea of fun, I can tell you that.
Which is why I had to find a better way. And if you’re like me, friends, finding a better way to do something almost always means making more money!
Starting a Nightlife Directory
Here’s one of my tried and true Internet-based marketing ideas, applied to the nightlife scene. Even if you don’t still enjoy the club scene, or if you just remember it from your youth, or have always found it unappetizing, it doesn’t matter – what I’m talking about is catering to that market of people that do love a good night on the town.
On Friday and Saturday night, all across the nation, droves of young adults are heading out, looking for a good time, increasingly online. Assist them, and you might just turn a decent profit.
What Your Website Does
Basically, your nightlife website directory will help party people have a better party. This includes listing all the best nightlife spots: bars, clubs, restaurants, venues for live music, sporting events, and the like.
It can be a very simple website, using the free platform WordPress.
An important thing to consider is how you’re going to set your nightlife directory apart from the others online. It could be for your city or it could be for a city halfway around the world! Or you could narrow your scope by listing only certain types of events – say, house music DJs – and show all the places with upcoming shows.
It helps if you start somewhere you’re comfortable with. This is why I suggest you focus on your own backyard: if you live in a big city, you’ve probably been to a number of bars and restaurants already, maybe even taken in some live music. Start compiling information and bringing it together on your website. Become the authority on the Austin music scene, for instance, or the Brooklyn club circuit.
Become a hub of information – be the first step for folks who are looking for a good time that weekend. When folks are looking for something to do, make them think of your website, not the free weekly they can get down at the bus stop.
So it’s very important that you have a comprehensive listing of all that’s going on in the niche you chose. But go beyond. Provide articles, reviews, photos of nightlife scenes or events, videos… anything to keep you visitors engaged and coming back to the site again and again… because that’s where the next step comes in.
Making a Profit
Now we’re going to talk about the best ways to make quick, fast, and easy money from an informational, directory-style website like this.
I suggest you start out by “selling” ad space. You can start out just by signing up for Google ads through the AdSense program. These are ads that Google generates automatically and posts onto your website.
Google handles the financial side, so all you have to do is increase the traffic to your website. Remember, the more people who click on your website, the more people will click on your ads, and that equals more money for you.
Next up is affiliate marketing. Believe it or not there are affiliate programs for the nightlife scene too. I’ve listed a couple in the resources below.
Like with all affiliate programs, when someone visits your site, clicks on a link, and buys a product or service from the business you’re an affiliate with… you make a commission. In this case, the product is a VIP table at a nightclub or tickets to an event, for example. These are high-ticket items – so the commissions can be quite sizeable.
After you’ve established your website and are collecting steady affiliate and AdSense revenues thanks to your consistent traffic, it might be time to take your marketing efforts further.
Try approaching some of the clubs/restaurants and offer them advertising space on your website. By contacting the business directly, not only will your percentage of profits be greater, your ads will also be that much more targeted. And because by now you have regular, high-quality traffic to your site, these businesses will be much more willing to buy ad space.
While you’re in touch with these folks, it might be worth trying to work out other arrangements too. Offer to start sending them more customers, in return for commission. It’s kind of like a mini-affiliate program.
Have a Party
So have fun with it! Remember, this is a website for nightlife: it’s important for that spirit to guide everything you do, from the design to the advertising. Start small, build fast and easy, and watch as the money pours in.
I wish you the best of luck!
John Hollister
P.S. I just gave you the tips needed to start your very own nightlife web directory. But here are a few more resources that might help to keep you inspired and in the money.
Resources
Set Up and the Marketing Side
http://www.blogmarketingacademy.com/how-to-sell-ads-on-your-blog/
http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/10295/how-to-sell-more-ads-on-your-blog/
http://onlinebusiness.about.com/od/monetization/a/blogadvertising.htm
Inspiration for Your Site
http://www.azcentral.com/thingstodo/bars/
http://www.miami.com/nightlife
http://www.dallasobserver.com/directory/clubs/
Advertising and Affiliate Programs
http://www.opennightlife.com/info_affiliates.php
http://www.clevertickets.com/affiliates.html
http://www.palms.com/about-palms-las-vegas/palms-affiliate/
http://www.ticketsolutions.com/affiliates/
http://www.clubvivalasvegas.com/affiliate.cfm